Varete
Varete (바렛트 Balesteu) is Aria Godspell's guardian and a powerful Witch working for the Great Witch of the North. She died by the hands of North and South but was resurrected by North later on.Cho, Jung-man (Trans.) (2009). Witch Hunter Manhwa: Volume 8: Chapter 36: Page 12. Super Champ. ISBN 978-89-252-4072-5 She is also known to be connected to Ryuhwan's Master.Cho, Jung-man (Trans.) (2009). Witch Hunter Manhwa: Volume 9: Chapter 46: Page 20. Super Champ. ISBN 978-89-252-5029-8 Appearance Varete is a tall, slim, well-endowed woman with long red hair usually tied up in a spiral, snail shell fashion at the back of her head held together by a large, circular, gold clip with a patterned face under her hat. She has two golden crescent shaped earrings on both ears and a large, round, golden medallion on her forehead. Varete adorns a tight, black, open back dress which flows past her ankles and opens the central part of her cleavage. This is held up by a gold collar attached to the front straps of her dress and connects to a chain and pendant shaped like an eye hanging over her back. Her hat is large and round with a gold center and black sides but at the front is a black triangular point with gold decorations near its base and around the rim are white stripes of cloth. Her hat is not worn during her casual appearances along with her very long sleeves, which begin under her shoulders and goes way past her hands. Personality Varete is a level headed and calm witch who's extremely confident in her power, though, given the fact that it took two of the Four Great Witches at once to bring her down, she appears to have the right to be so. She has never talked down to humans in the same way as several other witches, i.e. Neptis or Rose, but has more than often berated those who are weaker than her, showing that she's prideful, but not to the point of being arrogant. She is unflinching and hard to intimidate, she does not fear North or Neptis, to the point where she declines the former's request to watch over Tasha quite openly and verbally. She is also very authoritative, as she was able to talk down Aria repeatedly, even to the point of keeping her away from Tasha, as North intends. Varete appears to have either high or low expectations of others in battle and shows very little middle ground, as she went full force against Words, believing him capable of dodging her power, and severed his left arm. She also seemed quite amused when Tasha fought her with all he had during their battle, but ultimately decided he was weak. She does not seem to be openly hostile towards others, even humans, as during all of her fights she has never been the instigator and has more than often let her opponents leave with their lives. If given cause to be however she can be absolutely ruthless; She executed a group of B-class WH to avoid them calling for reinforcements, and struck Ryuhwan down to protect and retrieve Aria. She was also not above apologizing to Words after severing his arm and drinking the wine he'd been saving. Story History In the past she was acquainted with West and Ryuhwan, to a point that the latter, who usually considers all witches his enemies, recognized her and lowered his guard. She also has an unknown connection with West and East knew who she was. At an unknown point in the past she is also known to have defeated Fergus, Ryuhwan's supporter. Before the Witch/Human war began she was killed by South and North, although North struck the finishing blow. Ryuhwan seemed to be under the impression that Varete and West died together, although she herself confirmed this she also states that Ryuhwan was the main cause of West's death. Tasha's Memory Arc After Aria awakens Varete is sent by North to find her. Before taking Aria to North, Varete uses a spell to block Aria's negative emotions and teaches her how to place a curse on Tasha. Neptis appears in Varete's Castle and tells her it's time for North to step towards her true self. Varete goes to Aria's room to tell Aria that training will be postponed and she will be leaving the castle for a while. She warns Aria not to leave the castle although she knows Aria will not listen. After leaving she watches Aria leave from a nearby tree. The Red Witch Arc Varete is first called upon by North, who tells her to go and retrieve her student Aria. Varete complies with this order, ultimately causing her to encounter Aria's brother, Tasha, and fights him to achieve her goal. She seems to spend most of the fight scrutinizing Tasha, restraining him, blocking his attacks, gauging his responses to the situation, and ultimately strikes him down only when she believes he is out of tricks-all in scarce contrast to any of her later battles. Varete goads Tasha by stating that the reason he couldn't take Aria from her was simply because he was weak. Later, after Tasha's group left the town, Varete moves to engage East, warning her to stop trying to meddle in North's plans. The end result of this encounter is that Mountainville is utterly annihilated by their clash, but both witches leave alive, although Varete is covered in injuries. After recovering, Varete returns to North's castle to report the news of her failure although she retrieved Aria. North notes how rare it is to see Varete fail and requests her to watch over Tasha as well for a bit longer, but she refuses to do so. Neptis appears and scolds Varete for her disrespectful response to North and attempts to pick a fight but North stops her. Sometime later Varete and Aria engage a two teams of B-Class WH for practice to test out Aria's restored Supporters. Varete also notes that she's already laid the bait for Tasha to seek her out, having let him swipe an adornment from her dress to use for Diana's tracking abilities. The Other Magic Marksman Arc Tasha has a dream of being at a familiar castle next to Varete who he feels a longing towards. Fights in Britannia Arc Varete first appears to retrieve Aria after she lost her duel against Ryuhwan, who was uninjured from Aria's attacks. There it is revealed that she and Ryuhwan knew each other, and that she was tied to West. Ryuhwan is happy to hear the news that his master might not be dead but Varete stabs him with the Abyss, telling him that he shouldn't be happy. After leaving Ryuhwan heavily injured, Varete leaves with Aria but when Aria looks back asking why she didn't kill him, Varete states that she can bring Ryuhwan to death's doors but she could not kill him because that person wouldn't want it. She takes Aria back, telling her that there would be much harsher training when she returns and notes the arrival of South. Escape from Britain Arc When Tasha and Mordred are intercepted by the WH and subsequently separated from them by East, Words Blondy von Worth destroys the first created by East with his black hole, revealing Varete who arrived after Tasha and East left. Words then pins the blame on Varete and with the other WHs, attacks her. She slices off Words' arm in the battle, although it is restored by Elmar Hyacinth, whom Varete notes to be a paladin knight capable of using healing spells. As she was about to strike down all of the WHs gathered, Merlin interferes by stopping her Mana Supply to her supporter. He reminds her of the non-combat pact in Britain and convinces her to retreat. Afterwards, she appears in Words' chambers conversing with Eunryu after his talk with the British representatives. When he tells her that she was drinking Words' wine, she mentions that Words had feigned ignorance of her perfectly, so she responded in tune by attacking them, unaware that she would slice off his arm. She light-heartedly adds that she apologized to him secretly, which Eunryu notes is probably what had put Words into such a bad mood when he returned. When Eunryu discloses the group's plans for the Great Witches, he recommends that North move her castle, only for Varete to rebuff that none of the WH would be able to fight the Gatekeepers to North's castle. This intrigues Merlin who was listening in on the conversation. Training in Wonderland Tasha returns to the Dream world when he finds himself back with the castle and Varete. He converses with her although she's mute there and Tasha feels that he's talking to an old friend when with her. Ryuhwan uses a hologram of Varete from his memory for Tasha and his training. At first, Ryuhwan, Tasha, Fergus and Mordred took on her simultaneously but sometime during their training, Tasha is lying on the floor injured while Ryuhwan was being hanged around the neck by Varete's Abyss. Powers and Abilities Varete has powers much greater than an S-Class WH, it was noted that even Neptis and the current North in her castle wouldn't be able to take on her together,Cho, Jung-man (Trans.) (2006). Witch Hunter Manhwa: Volume 2: Chapter 8: Page 14. Super Champ. ISBN 978-89-252-3466-3 and she's defeated Fergus, whose power rivalled the Prince of Light. She was only defeated when two of the Four Great Witches fought her simultaneously.Also In Britain Varete quickly defeated 5 A-Class WH (Which included the best A-Class WH Words and Cougar) with little effort. Varete also forced East to Supply Surtr (who Varete also knocked to the ground) with mana this impressive as the only other person who forced East to supply Surtr with mana was Vihyungrang who's worth 2-S Class WH personnel. Finally, when Ryuhwan was training Tasha in wonderland he stated that Varete is an opponent who is far more powerful than himself with the other being his Master West. Finally, Tasha stated Tasha remarks her strength is comparable and equal to Tania Doberg the current strongest WH. Mana Source (마력의 원천 Malyeog-ui Woncheon): Like all witches, Varete produces her own mana which can be used to enhance her physical abilities in many aspects or to cast spells. It takes longer for witches to enhance their physical capabilities compared to chi users but the effects last for a full day. *'Enhanced Speed': The mana produced can increase the speed the witch can function. *'Enhanced Strength': Attacks reinforced with mana are more powerful than ordinary attacks. *'Enhanced Durability': By reinforcing their body with mana, witches are able to withstand attacks ordinary humans aren't able to. *'Quicker Recovery': Mana allows the witch's wounds to heal at a more rapid rate. Mana Manipulation: After a witches' awakening, she can figure out how mana works instantly and manipulate it as naturally as she breathes. Mana Storage: All witches are capable of naturally storing mana within their body, although to a limited extent. Perception: A trait all witches possess, the ability to see mana. Supporter Abyss (심연 Sim-yeon): Varete's supporter is the Abyss, which allows her to control even the smallest of shadows. Since Shadow of the Abyss isn't seen at all, it might be a Spiritual Supporter. *'Shadow Free-forming': Varete can use virtually any shadow within an area and use them/it as solid objects. Varete is able to make offensive weapons, like swords and spear-like shadows, and is able to bind opponents with shadows as well. The shadows are also shown to be extremely durable, even if formed from small shaded areas, capable of stopping point-blank mana bullets even Tasha's Desert Eagle Custom which has the force of firing 10,000 normal mana bullets at once. She is also able to move the shadows with incredible speed, catching all A-Class WHs, and even Ryuhwan off-guard. *'Black Hole' (블랙홀 Beullaeghol): Varete can wrap the Shadow around an individual. Energy released within this grip will be absorbed by the Abyss. *'Shadow Transportation': Varete can traverse great distances through the usage of shadows, though it's unknown how big that shadow must be. *'Curse': Varete teaches Aria how to place a curse on Tasha so he will become her supporter. Equipment Witch Hat (마녀의 모자 Manyeo-ui Moja): The hat is where the Mana Source is located and can store an endless amount of mana but when lost, the mana can't be retrieved from the missing hat. Oddly enough, the hat is made from mana itself. *'Transfer': Varete can summon the hat to her head when not there initially. Castle (성 Seong): Varete is revealed to have her own Castle in chapter 171. Witches are said to be a couple times stronger when fighting in their own lair. *'Accessory': A heart shaped object made from Varete's magic. The accessory is used to trace the source of the witch's magic. It was attached at the bottom in the back of her dress for Tasha to snatch. Relationships North Varete currently works under North. More or less Varete respects North, she was willing to stand against South when South entered North's castle, although she still does things her own ways (such as refusing to watch Tasha even though it was a direct order from North). Varete was apparently killed by North in the past, and she has a contract with North, which would explains why Varete works under North. Aria Godspell Varete is Aria's teacher and guardian. She is very strict with Aria and has to keep an eye on her so that Aria doesn't wander off. She trains Aria and attacks/kills anyone who poses a serious threat towards Aria (like Ryuhwan). West The two are assumed to have a past together. According to Ryuhwan the two died together, something she doesn't deny. She also cares about West's will as she stated to Aria that she can't kill Ryuhwan because West would not want that. Ryuhwan Varete and Ryuhwan seem to know each other from Ryuhwan's apprenticed days. He was shocked and relieved to see her alive, and he who despises all witches lowered his guard the moment he saw her. Trivia *Early on in the series it was stated by South that Varete is on the same level as one of the Four Great Witches like her, East and North,Cho, Jung-man (Trans.) (2009). Witch Hunter Manhwa: Volume 8: Chapter 36: Page 16. Super Champ. ISBN 978-89-252-4072-5 However, much later on, West, the final one of the Four Great Witches, was revealed to be someone else.Cho, Jung-man (Trans.) (2013). Witch Hunter Manhwa: Volume 15: Chapter 83: Page 16. Super Champ. ISBN 978-89-682-2640-3 *Varete's Witch Hat looks to be a combination of different sorts of hats: a classic witch's hat, a princess's hat, and the Russian kokoshnik. It is also very similar to Etwal's hat. References Navigation Category:North's Group Category:Adversaries Category:Witch Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Resurrected